Raise Hell
by a paradise bird
Summary: One night, Diego saved a woman from her abusive boyfriend and luck would have it that she wandered into the boxing gym, requesting for him to teach her self defense. He tries to keep his distance but he can't help but fall for the woman, valuing her more than anything. What happens when her boyfriend comes back to pay her a final visit?
1. Chapter 1

_It was a slow night._

_Surprisingly, not that much was going on, Diego stopped a robbery before going to an empty parking lot and that wasn't even phoned in to the police yet. Diego knew he had to pick and choose which crime he should go to in hopes of not getting any run ins with cops._

_He sighed and leaned forward to turn on the ignition to go home when the dispatcher had called in a domestic violence report, not far from where he was. It would've been 5 minutes for him to get there on foot. He continued to start the car anyways._

_He parked his car in the alley as he began to understand why there was such an urgent call, even from the outside, Diego could hear the woman's screams and crashing of furniture. With a quick ease, he hopped the fence and used one of his knives to unlock the back door. His shoes crunched on an already broken plate as his chest tightened when he saw the blood on the floor and countertop. This was bad._

_A woman was thrown down to the floor just outside of the kitchen as a man towered over her, Diego kicked him in the back of his knee. The man let out a cry as Diego punched him on the side of the face, creating room to get himself in between the woman and the attacker. The man tried to lunge at him but Diego quickly moved away and connected his knee to his stomach. A gasp came from the man as Diego went behind him and started to put him in a chokehold. He struggled for a bit, but the man finally went limp and crashed to the ground as the woman backed up, terrified of the masked man._

"_It's alright" Diego said as calmly as he could, "I'm not going to hurt you."_

_She was visibly shaking as she said, "Who are you?"_

"_Someone who just gave you a second chance at life" Diego responded before he said, "The police will be here any minute"_

"_What do I say about all this?" She waved around at the mess._

_Diego shrugged, "The truth. He beat you up and a stranger came in and stopped it… if there's a Detective Patch that answers to this call, she'll believe you"_

_The sirens started to sound in the distance as the woman slowly straightened herself up, "He's not going to wake up anytime soon, is he?"_

"_Only when he's in handcuffs" Diego turned and kicked the man roughly in the stomach before he said, "For good measure"_

That was nearly a week ago, normally he wouldn't think twice about the people he saved during his Vigilante nights but this one beckoned his call. It was almost closing time for the gym, about an hour or so when there was a strange hush over the building that made him look up from sweeping. He would've just thought she was any normal attractive woman who came in just for the looks from the boys, it's been done before. What Diego noticed was the bruises still visible on her skin, her skin was painted in blotches of ugly brown or pale blue. She looked almost just as scared as how he saw her the night in her apartment.

Her eyes scanned and glanced to his, _shit!_

Al walked over to the woman and gently touched her arm, just slightly but it was enough to make her jump back and the old man to wave his arms up as if he meant no defense. They started to talk when the young woman showed him a small piece of paper. He only glanced at it before looking up and meeting Diego's eyes. He turned his back on them and tried to pretend that he actually enjoyed sweeping in the corner.

_There was no way she could've saw me, no way!_ _I didn't even stick around for her to try and ask personal questions._ _How the hell did she find me so quickly?_

Al yelled out Diego's name, making Diego stiffen as he wished he could disappear but instead, he turned around. Al and the woman were standing in front of him.

"You have a client"

"What?"

"You came as a high recommendation for this little lady here" Al turned and looked to her, "She wants you to teach her self defense"

Diego glanced over and looked at the bruised woman up and down, "Haven't you been through a couple rounds already?"

"_Diego!" _Al hissed out.

"What I mean to say is that you shouldn't be trying to fight whoever did this to you" Diego said, "Go to the police, file a report, and let justice do its work"

She opened her mouth and said in a small voice, "I- I did, y- you were the o- one my detective mentioned, she said y- you could help protect me?"

_She. _"What was her name?"

"Patch" the woman cleared her throat, "Eudora Patch, she said you owe her a favor"

"Son of a bitch" Diego rolled his eyes.

"Diego, can I have a word with you" Al turned to the woman and smiled to her, "Excuse me, sweetheart"

He roughly took Diego by the arm and dragged him across the otherside of the boxing gym, "What the hell is the matter with you?! Can't you give this woman some respect? She's been through hell!"

"This isn't her place" Diego said, "She shouldn't be here"

"She needs your help" Al exclaimed, "Can't you just give her lessons? I'll pay you for it"

"Why would Patch send her over to me in order to help her?" Diego asked, "You do realize she might get cocky and want to go a couple of rounds on the person who did this to her, right?"

"What if this man will come back and do the knock out on her, or worse," Al said, "Do you want that on your conscious as she walks out of here?"

_No._ Of course not, he's heard of a couple of cases where the boyfriend comes back, regardless of the restraining order or not. He glanced back over to the woman who seemed so scared that each sound of the punching bag made her jump. Diego couldn't help but pity the woman, usually he doesn't think twice but now seeing the aftermath of abuse, he did feel pity. He sighed and glanced to Al and only gave a small nod before going back to the woman.

"We'll start your first lesson when your bruises have fully healed" Diego said, "We'll train either an hour before the gym opens or after it closes, understand?"

"Yes" she swallowed.

Diego watched him before he said, "The person who did this to you? Will he come back?"

She glanced down to her bruises before she mumbled, "I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

"Just to be clear; this is for defending yourself _**not **_going seeking out revenge on him" Diego said firmly.

"Of course" she looked up, "I would never want to be in the same room with him, ever again"

"Let's hope that never happens" he reached out for her hand, "My name is Diego Hargreeves"

"Ava" she glanced up to him, "Ava Thomas"


	2. Chapter 2

Diego waited impatiently on the steps of the Precinct, tapping his foot looking for a certain brunette. He was still fuming mad after Ava came poking her nose into the boxing gym looking for him with _his actual name. _If she had recognized him, he would've been screwed, there was a reason why he kept that side of his life private and now one of the few people he trusted just flat out told a victim he saved. Diego straightened up when he saw Eudora Patch walking up to the Precinct with what could be her third cup of coffee in hand. He didn't wait until she saw him, he walked down the stairs and stopped her dead in her tracks.

"I can't believe you" Diego hissed, "You answered that domestic violence call a week ago, didn't you? You know, if I wanted her to know who I was, I would've given her a business card with my smiling face on it. Looks like I don't have to since you sent her right to my doorstep. What the hell were you thinking?!-"

"I was _thinking _about saving that woman" Patch defended.

"Well, leave me out of it" Diego let out, "I only save in the moment, I don't want to know about what happens after I saved their asses, alright?"

Patch shifted her foot and let out a sigh, something she does when she's wondering on how to trust this person.

"Come on, you gotta see something" Patch nodded as she walked around him and up the stairs.

Diego and Patch crammed themselves behind her desk as she took out a file, not a thick file but still big enough to know something's up. She opened the page and Ava's boyfriend was smiling up at him with a million dollar smile, posing next to a million dollar company name.

"Oh, shit" Diego let out.

"Meet Nial Wyndham, one of the youngest financial entrepreneurs in our region" Patch said, "Rising star, literally everything he touches makes a good story since he came from nothing. But as of recently, he's starting to crack. I've connected four disturbance calls including the one you paid a visit in. I thought we could put this jackass away with everything I thought we had on him, but there's just one small problem-"

"He got away"

"He has money" Patch sighed and leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest, "He lawyered up and is now making Ava the instigator"

Diego's eyebrows furrowed as he turned to her, "How could he do that?"

"They work together" Patch informed him, "Or I should say _worked. _Ava was fired from the company the morning after the incident; she was a receptionist and now conveniently, they're finding a bunch of dirty work that Ava swears she's never done in her life"

"Dirty lawyer defending the abusive boyfriend" Diego sighed and shook his head, "If this stays on her record, she'll never be able to hold a job because of this"

Patch hesitated, "There's more"

Diego glanced to her, knowing this woman saves the best for last, "The reason why I sent her over to you is because she's been receiving death threats from him. I could only get her a temporary restraining order but that's it, she told me that a masked man says to do whatever I tell her to do and never question it. In my gut, I knew sending her to you for self- defense will help her because with everything I'm seeing… it's only going to be a matter of days before he comes back"

"So you want me to protect her" Diego pieced together.

"Protect and train her" Patch said, "She needs to know that there are people here fighting for her"

Diego sighed as he glanced back over to the paperload of almost spotless record of Ava's previous boyfriend. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her as he fully understood the situation at hand. He knew she didn't even want to go into the boxing gym when she had, her eyes either wandering around the room or on the floor. She probably would've preferred to have been on her bed crying herself to sleep over some lovesick movie. She was almost just as terrified of being there than the night he first met her.

That's why he decided to leave a message at Ava's place, telling her to come tonight, he knew she was there at her house but was afraid of answering the phone now. It was a Wednesday night and the monthly promotion boxing just ending last weekend, so luck was on her side. He decided to go easy for now and teach her a few punching bag moves and then hopefully that'll give her enough confidence to go head to head. Judging from what he's seen, she's got a long way to go from achieving that goal.

The front door squeaked, making Diego look up to see Ava slowly making her way over to him in sweatpants, a big T-shirt and make up? His eyes squinted only for a minute but he decided to shrug it off, thinking she must've come from job hunting, dinner, or something. He adjusted the punching bag and looked around the room to see if everything was all accounted for.

"Thank y-you for a- arranging to meet me tonight" Ava stammered.

"It's nothing" Diego mumbled, "Figured we shouldn't wait around"

"I- I can a- agree" Ava said.

Diego turned to her and looked at her for a moment, "Do you have a stutter?"

"Sometimes" Ava mumbled, "I-It's been a- a rough couple o- of days"

"I get it" Diego nodded, "Let's start turning things around, now tell me this… why do you want to learn how to fight"

Ava seemed surprised that he was asking but Diego crossed his arms over his chest as if that were to keep her from challenging him. She quickly averted her gaze and glanced to the corner behind him, a dark corner, as if someone were going to be there. He couldn't help but study her and how scared she was to even be in this room with him, but yet, she trusted Patch enough to know that Diego wouldn't do anything to her. Ava twisted her finger as if that was going to make her think faster or give a better answer. She quickly looked up to the ceiling as a tear came down the corner and easily slid out of view.

She finally said in a small voice, "To keep him from coming back"

"Hmm… so it is about a man" Diego nodded, "Word of advice; don't go Jennifer Lopez and seek out your abusive husband, this isn't a movie. Women _die_ when they try to confront the man who hit her first. I am going to teach you self- defense but you need to promise me you will only use it when he tries to attack you, do you hear me?"

Ava nodded, "Y- Yes"

"Good" Diego said, "Because that's our rule number one: Don't do anything stupid"

He turned and picked up gloves, "I think these will fit you, were going to start off with punches today with this bag before escalating… be aware that when I feel you're ready, you will be learning hand- to- hand"

"O- Okay" Ava let out.

"And another thing" Diego took only a small step towards her, "I'm not a threat. You can trust me, Ava. I won't hurt you and I will do my best to protect you and teach you everything you should know. You trusted Patch enough to find me… now it's time to put that same trust in me"

Ava looked up before she said, "I- I will try"

"That's all I need to hear" Diego said, "No put these on, we've got a lot of work to do"

Ava took the gloves and tried to place them on her hand, Diego pretended to not hear the hissing she made as the leather went over the cuts on the palms of her hands. He knew that was from one of the times she fell on broken glass. He could still see the bruises but they were starting to fade and the makeup she put on helped only a little bit. He decided not to push it about the makeup and let it slide this time, he didn't want to make her as uncomfortable as she already is. When she finally put them on, she looked up to him with bright big eyes, innocent but ready to fight back.


	3. Chapter 3

Ava punched the bag as Diego held onto it, watching her form with no emotions in his eyes. Sweat dripped down her head but she was too focused on her lesson to care, now that the pain was gone, she could finally put more force into her punches. At first, she felt awkward and silly, thinking about the person she hated the most in the form of a bag, but then it soon became easier to deal with. A bell rang off from the distance, marking half time in Ava's self-defense lessons, time for her to breathe. She dropped down her arms to her sides and took in a big exhale, realizing how sore she was.

"Good, but mind your form" Diego commented as they went off to the side, "One punch and you could fall back if you don't know how to stand"

"Okay" Ava sat down and picked up her water and started to drink.

"You know the drill, ten minutes and then we go back to it," Diego said as if the last five lessons she was deaf.

Ava nodded, "Right"

She wiped her brow and grimaced when she felt a new acne bump had formed near her forehead, making it her third pimple since she's started the self defense classes but unfortunately, she knew why. She was so used to wearing makeup all the time, thanks to Nial, at first they started out as suggestions but then one time he brought her to Sephora on a "date" as the makeup artist chose the most complex makeup with 25 steps just to achieve an "everyday" sort of look. Next, they went to the hair salon where a woman spent the rest of the day relaxing her curls into a brazilian blowout. He knew she didn't like wearing makeup and loved her natural hair but on the ride home, he told her that if she wanted to be seen with him, she had to look her best. It was that day that she started to regret ever saying yes to the first date.

"He hasn't come back, has he?" Diego asked.

Ava looked up to him, "What?"

He glanced to her, "The person who did that to your face"

"No" Ava quickly said, "No, he hasn't… he's made his threats known elsewhere"

"Patch is working on it" Diego told her, "That lady could be tough as nails when she wants to be"

"Is she your girlfriend?" Ava suddenly asked.

Diego choked on his water, making it spill all over the floor in front of him, if she were in a lighter mood, Ava might've laughed as he said, "No, we're not. We tried it out but it just felt too weird for us, you know?"

"I wish I had warning signs" Ava couldn't help but let out, "All the friends I had in the past I don't talk to because of him and all the friends I do have because of him think that I've been embezzling money from the company"

"I told you, Patch will work on it" Diego said, "She'll find out whose dirty and put them behind bars"

"Mind as well take the whole company down" Ava shook her head, "I mean, I heard rumors about it but never really thought much about if it were true or not. They were all from previous employers and I just thought that they were angry because of being fired or something"

A light went off in Diego's head as he asked, "Did you ever tell this to Patch?"

"What? The fired employers? I don't think so" Ava thought about it for a second before she said, "Why?"

"That could be her way into bringing them down" Diego said, "She needs proof that this company is putting you through a bad light, give her a list of that"

Ava nodded eagerly but the hope didn't reach her eyes. She was tired of hopping and didn't really want to put that much into something that could've been a long shot. Every time she came to her low paid lawyer, he said that he was going to get this plea but then the next visit, there was another lie about what she did on his desk. She didn't know if the saying were true about how lawyers were only good for how much they are worth or just that this other lawyer was dirty and rotten to the core. Sometimes the lies were so good that she didn't even know if it was real or not.

"I know it's hard to believe, but things will get better" Diego comforted her, "It's not going to be the end of the world. You watch, all of this will blow over in about a year or so"

"I made it onto the morning paper" Ava commented.

"Maybe in about two years" Diego shrugged.

"They said that I fabricated my abuse just so I could steal the money that I couldn't get at from being just the receptionist" Ava quoted the paper.

"Three years" Ava turned and looked to Diego as he said shrugged, "Give or take"

Ava huffed, "I could try to move but I'm trapped in having enough money to pay my bills but not enough to get the extra step I need"

"So you want to run?" Diego asked.

"I honestly don't know what I want anymore" Ava shrugged, "Ideally, I would want to move out of the city and be left alone by everyone, but that doesn't seem to be the case"

Diego watched as Ava took her time in eating her protein bar, nibbling on it as she was probably thinking of her last most recent threat. He's been fighting his urge to get involved but the more and more he saw Ava, the more he actually felt sorry for her. As much as he wanted Patch to do her work and "trust" in the system as much as she does, from what he hears from Ava, that's not the case. These men will walk free without a scratch on their record while an innocent person like Ava will suffer. Diego sighed as he bowed his head down, _God damn it._

"What are their names?" he asked.

"Whose?" Ava asked.

"The people who are saying false things about you" Diego said, "There has to be some people you recognized that are saying false things about you. You were the receptionist, right? You've got to know whose the lawyer they turn to"

"Yes… but I already gave all those names to Detective Patch" Ava said slowly, "Why do I need to write them out again"

"You never know if she might've lost the list" Diego said softly, "I'm actually meeting her for breakfast with a couple of friends tomorrow, I can slip it in for her and tell her what you've been telling me"

"Oh, no, no, no" Ava waved up her hands, "Please, I don't want to be a bother to anyone anymore"

Diego leaned in, "Either you're not a bother and you get nothing done, or you bother them until they leave you alone"

Ava thought for a moment, stiffened up before she said, "I wrote it once… I can write it again"

"Good" Diego got up and glanced to the clock, "We went over our break, back to work"

"Diego?"

He turned around and watched as she shifted from foot to foot as she said, "Thank you"

Diego smiled as he said, "Anytime"


	4. Chapter 4

Ava unlocked the door to her home and crept in. She tossed the keys into the key bowl and walked over to the fridge. She had just finished another night at the boxing lesson and it was almost routine for her to walk straight to the kitchen and grab the yogurt parfait that she loves to enjoy. She had to train herself to not go to a fast food joint before going home, it was one of the biggest challenges she had to face. Ava got up and turned around to see a woman standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and glaring at her.

"Hi, Laura" Ava said, nonchalantly.

"Your boyfriend called again" she got right to the point, "He knows your here"

"He's _not _my boyfriend" Ava corrected, "And of course he knows I'm here, Aaron is the only other person I would go to that's family to me"

"Lucky us" Laura rolled her eyes, "I can't believe you are willing to risk the life of your own nephew"

"He won't touch Brent, I can promise you that" Ava swore, "Hurting Brent would give Nial more of a bad name and he wouldn't risk it"

Laura's glare deepened, "And you want to stay here longer than you already have to figure that out?"

"What's going on in here?" Aaron suddenly appeared at the doorway, "Hey, Ava, how was self defense class?"

Laura did the deepest scoff that it even hurt the back of Ava's throat. She watched as the woman turned around and left, her hair blowing behind her as she yelled upstairs to Brent that it was time for a bath. Ava was sure that she was probably saying that so her nephew didn't have time to run up and greet her as he does every night, oblivious to the danger he could be in. She too was concerned for the little boy but Detective Patch had promised her that Nial wasn't the type of man who would risk it all and show his violent behavior in front of other people. Ava was safe as long as she was with family, in this case, her younger brother, Aaron.

"You know Laura doesn't mean that" Aaron let out, "It's her pregnant mind that makes her into such a bitch"

"She's always been a bitch" Ava rolled her eyes, "Especially if it means doing me any favors"

Aaron sighed, "Trust me when I tell you that when she first heard of your attack, she wanted us to do whatever it took to help you"

"_Not _help me move into your spare room," Ava countered.

Aaron couldn't help but side nod as he leaned over on the island, he didn't even tell his wife until _**after **_Ava moved in, knowing the woman would say no. She was so furious that she didn't even care that Brent could hear every single word, or that Ava was sitting in the living room in front of them. He knew that if the roles were switched, Laura wouldn't open up her home to her family member in need, but that's the thing, she's an only child. By now, Ava chose to let Laura's attitude not bother her, she had bigger problems with phone calls every night from either her boyfriend and just recently, other members of the office. Unfortunately for her, the man is very clever and doesn't state any threats that could give him a restraining order.

"I'm going into practicing boxing with him in front next week" Ava paused, "I don't think I'm ready for it"

"You will be" Aaron comforted, "You've been fighting a punching bag for almost a month now, you've started to gain muscle"

"Muscle doesn't matter with that man's attitude" Ava hesitated, "I-It comes o-out o-of nowhere"

"Hey, hey, hey" Aaron straightened up, "Just take five deep breaths, okay?"

Ava closed her eyes but did as he said, "I know what dad would tell me, Aaron"

"I'm just trying to help" he said gently, "You've been through a lot… if you could just let me-"

"No!" Ava turned to him, "Don't involve mom and dad, the second they hear about this, mom will have me shipped off to her without a second thought"

"I'm kind of surprised that she _hasn't _heard about all this" Aaron sighed, "It's been on the news nearly every single day"

Ava shook her head as she continued to eat her yogurt. She can't even watch the news now without even seeing her face and hearing 10 more lies about herself. With each new story, she feels like chucking the closest object to her screen, screaming and crying at the same time. No one wants to talk to her, even former employers for unknown fears that are suddenly clear for her now.

"There's nothing we can do" Ava quoted Patch, "Just trust the system"

"The system is making you look from bad to worse while this man is making it a habit to call our phone and threaten you until our voicemail box is full" Aaron sighed and shook his head, "I wish there was some sort of loophole that will get these assholes"

"You're preaching to the choir" Ava turned and slowly walked out of the kitchen.

She knew what Aaron would say to her, _don't watch the news tonight… or any night._ Maybe he already did but she got so good at ignoring him lately that she didn't even pick up on it. She barely glanced up while she heard Brent and Laura down the hall in a high pitch sing-song voice of washing their face.

Ava closed the door and clicked on the tv, of course, the news channel was on. She barely even glanced at it before her eyes were glued onto the screen. Displaying it was one of the many workers that were from the company, he confessed to planting false documents to former employees… including, hers. The man was talking to Patch at the police station as she leaned in as the reporter went on and on about about now an investigation will now go further while still trying to pin something on Nial.

Ava sighed as she leaned back, "Unbelievable"

She sighed and laid back on her bed, Ava glanced up to the ceiling as Nail popped into her vision with a huge hand, ready to smother her. Ava let out a scream and rolled off of her bed and slammed herself into the wall. She panted and looked around the room as she heard thundering footsteps and Aaron bursting through the room with Laura slowly made her way into it after her.

"You okay?" Aaron asked.

"Y-yeah" Ava nodded, "Just thought I-I saw him a-again"

"Please" Laura rolled her eyes, "Like the last time?"

"Laura!" Aaron turned to her, "Enough already!"

"Fine, but just remember that she is jeopardizing our family by staying here!" Laura rubbed her belly for good measure before going back to her son.

Aaron sighed before turning to Ava, she rolled her eyes and said, "I know, don't worry about it"

Aaron shrugged, "Good night, Ava"

"Night, Aaron" Ava sighed, "See you in the morning"

Aaron smiled at her sympathetically before closing the door. Ava sighed and crossed her legs under her and wondered about her situation. Her brother has told her time and time again that maybe she should get out more often, all she does is stay at home or go to the boxing gym to practice with Diego and… that's just about it. She doesn't really have any friends anymore and the family she has is Aaron and she highly doubted that Laura would want to even consider going out with her. The only person she knew was Detective Patch and Diego making Ava swallow. Well… she had to start making friends somewhere.


	5. Chapter 5

Diego pulled into the diner so fast, the curb felt like any normal speed bump to him. Two hours before their session, Ava called him asking him to meet her at the diner down the street. His heart raced as he thought about the last time he saw her all bloodied and bruised on her boyfriend's floor. He didn't even remember if he locked the door as he ran inside and looked frantically around for her. He wasn't expecting her to be sitting there with a small smile and waving at him.

"Are you okay?" Diego slid into the other bench, "Are you hurt?"

"What? No" Ava shook her head.

Diego's eyes narrowed, "Then why did you call to meet here? Has Nial threatened you again?"

Ava scoffed, "He hasn't stopped, it's not literally a bedtime story just hearing the voicemail box"

"So then why are we here?" Diego glanced around the diner.

"Oh, um…" Ava cleared her throat, "I just thought that, you know, we could talk outside of the gym"

"Excuse me?" Diego asked.

"Well, it's just that I've been reading about what I could do to get over… trauma" Ava paused, "They said to go back to your old friends, which I don't have, and even when I called them, they were quick to hang up the phone. I couldn't call Patch because she's working on my case and that would jeopardize it for being 'too involved' so-"

"I am the lucky winner" Diego leaned back into the booth.

Well, he had to admit that this was a lot less scarier than what he had in mind. Diego thought that sense he went after one of the co-workers that they immediately put two and two together. He glanced up to her as he could tell that she was thinking back on her decision on inviting him out to eat. As much as he was bothered by this and she should've explained more, Diego knew he couldn't let that be known. Ava was right, she was the only person he got that was close to a friend.

He turned and waved his hand to the waitress and ordered a cup of coffee as Ava straightened up, breathing out a sigh of relief. She thought that at any moment he was going to get up and tell her to meet him at the gym and only there. The waitress came and filled up his cup before informing them that she will give them a couple of more minutes to order.

"Thanks"

"You're paying, right?"

Ava blinked, "Uh, yeah, of course, I will"

"You know I was kidding, right?" Diego asked.

It took Ava a while before she let out a dry laugh, a short one but all the same. It almost felt like a wave of oxygen escaped her chest when she did that. It wasn't even a funny joke but noticing her small laugh suddenly made her realize how long it's been since she's actually laughed. She wondered if it was noticeable as she quickly picked up her cup of coffee and took a sip from it as if to wash out her small moment. She cleared her throat and nodded, finally answering his question.

Ava glanced up just as a man walked by the window, making her gasp and almost drop her cup of coffee. He wasn't Nial, didn't even look their way to acknowledge the woman who was afraid of him for a split second. He continued by the window as Ava's heart still pounded out of her chest.

Diego noticed the reaction as he leaned over the table to talk in a low voice.

"You thought it was him?"

"Y- Yeah… E-even though he never came o-on this side o-of town" Ava nodded.

Diego studied her as Ava was getting her bearings once more, "Does this happen often?"

"Sometimes" Ava shrugged, "My sister-in-law is pretty fed up with it, says I scream more than my nephew and he still thinks there is a monster under his bed"

Diego scoffed, "Some support system you got there"

"Yeah, well, they're the only family I got unfortunately" Ava sighed, "I didn't feel like running back to mom and dad over this"

"I'm glad you didn't" Ava glanced up and looked at him as he said, "Running would do you no good, it would mean that he still has power over you, and that's probably what he wanted you to do in the first place"

"He still has power over me" Ava rolled her eyes, "I see him every time I move too fast or in a face of a stranger, I can't even disagree with my brother before thinking he might turn around and hit me"

Ava shuddered just thinking about Aaron with his back turned before turning around and suddenly being Nial with his right hook ready. She glanced down briefly at the table before she noticed Diego's hand with his palm up, open and waiting for her. She glanced up to him as he waited patiently for her, not telling her to take his hand but offering it as some sort of support. At first, Ava was going to reject the offer, but this was the first person who sat down and talked to her without telling her to stop worrying about Niall. Ava swallowed before she gently placed her hand in his, lightly, so that if he even flinches, she would be able to pull her hand back to her body.

"I'm not going to let this man hurt you, okay?" Diego said, "Eventually, the figment of him will disappear too as you get stronger in your training but even if he comes back, you tell me, okay? I'll deal with him"

"How can you?" Ava rolled her eyes, "The guy practically has the news reporters in his back pocket, every single time I try to declare my innocence, something is pinned on me that I haven't even heard before. It's insane and heartbreaking to tell you the truth, some workers they interviewed were my friends and they just easily abandoned me just like that. How are you any different?"

Diego smirked, "I have my ways"


	6. Chapter 6

"You can't just throw your knives around and get people to confess, Diego" Patch said for what felt like the 100th time.

"Why? It worked the last time" Diego shrugged.

"He felt threatened, that's why he confessed" Patch placed her hands on her hips, "Do you understand me? That's a _**forced **_confession, hardly means anything and if you have more on the same case, they'll start looking for you"

Diego shrugged, "Well, you wanted me to help Ava, so I am"

Patch scoffed, "In defense classes, not this"

"You don't see what I see, Eudora" Diego got up from leaning on her car, "That woman is scared shitless, she can't even have a proper day now with people calling her and threatening her. Whenever she sees a man that **looks **like him, she is ready to scream and cry. He wants her trapped in the idea of what he can do to her so much that she can't function. It's a freaking miracle that she even wants to come to my classes cause, otherwise, she stays home"

"I know" Patch sighs, "I wish there was more that we can do"

"That is why I am taking this into my own hands" Diego took a step closer to her, "You're a great detective but you play too much by the book, you're probably the cleanest one in your Precinct-"

"Is that a crime?"

"I'm just saying that these people know how to work around the book" Diego explained, "They're dirty! How do you think they got away with as much as they did now! No one has stopped them yet"

"What? Until you?" Patch scoffed, "You're going to be the shining hero?"

"I'll do it for Ava" Diego answered, "If there are other doors that open up due to that then fine, you'll have your answer _and _you'll be the hero for all of my hard work"

Patch raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me" Diego raised both of his hands, "Someone's gotta take the credit at the Precinct. I gotta go, I promised Ava we could go to the park today"

Patch was about to ask but Diego turned and was already on his way to his car, not even looking back to give her a final tease about how uptight she was.

Ava nervously bit her lip and tapped her foot up and down, waiting for Diego. At first, she liked the idea of going to the park, all of the fresh air, activities, and people watching could be fun as well, but then she actually sat on it. She was out in the open, vulnerable, and she wasn't even sure if she was safe here. Ava tried to breathe but her stomach was already in a very tense knot just thinking about someone watching her but she couldn't see them. Ava quickly picked up her bag and turned, ready to run to the parking lot-

"Ava!"

She glanced behind her to see Diego jogging up, glancing down to her purse, "I was only 9 minutes late"

"No, it's not that" Ava glanced down to her purse, "I- I was just-"

"It's your first time out in public" Diego nodded, "I figured"

"How did y- you know?" Ava looked at him, surprised that this man could read her like an open book.

"Let's just say that you're not the first person I have seen overcome such a tragedy" Diego side shrugged.

"Right" Ava let out a dry laugh, "Detective Patch probably sends you a lot of lost- cause women to help out"

"Just you" Diego leaned in slightly, "But you're not a lost cause"

Ava smiled as she felt something burn her cheeks, something she hadn't felt in a seriously long time. Diego nodded his head the opposite way of where she was headed. Ava walked a couple of paces before Diego fell into stride with her. She took a deep breath and glanced around one more time as her heart tried to hammer its way out of her chest.

"Why did you pick this park?" Ava asked.

Diego shrugged, "It's familiar to me, my brothers and sister used to train here every once in a while"

"Train?"

"We were on a track team" Diego's lie rolled off so smoothly, "Our father was one so he pushed all of us to be like him"

"Sounds exhausting" Ava let out.

Diego could only nod as he remembered every weekday at 5 in the morning the lights would turn on automatically and a blaring bell to let them know that training has begun. He would always try to sleep in an extra five minutes but either his mom would gently touch his back to wake him up or their father would roughly kick his bed and lecture him about how every man should wake up before the sun. Diego glanced off to the left as he could see the academy from down the street, if only his father could see him now.

Diego shrugged, "He loved schedule, more than us sometimes"

"I'm sorry" Ava apologized, "Sounds rough"

"You have no idea…" Diego huffed, "What about you? I only ever hear about your boyfriend drama, no offense"

"Yeah, it's the reason we were introduced" Ava paused, "But outside of that, my family doesn't really have any drama. My mom is a complete worrywort, she even freaks out about daylight savings and whether or not your cell phone will reset or not. Dad just takes things with stride, he's the opposite, nothing seems to bother him anymore and I believe it's because of mom. I have only one brother who lives here and I've been living in his home ever since the incident. He's married with a son, the mom doesn't really like me as much after what happened"

"I'm guessing your parents don't know then, huh?" Diego asked, "Given that your mom worries too much"

Ava slowly nodded, "Yeah… she'd probably have a heart attack of this… she still asks about him and when will he propose"

Ava took a hard time swallowing, she hasn't talked to her mom since Thursday and even then that phone call was hard to bear. It was the only thing she wanted to talk about, at first, Ava thought that her mother had finally heard the news but when she hung up the phone, she realized she got to live another day.

"Your brother hasn't said anything?" Diego asked.

"No, but I'm sure my sister-in-law is going to any day now" Ava huffed, "The thing is… I don't want him to think he has won, I need to stay and endure this and hope that justice will win. Even though he calls with his threats, I'm not going to pack my bags for this, I can't"

"Do you think he'll ever get tired of it?" Diego asked.

"Oh, no" Ava laughed, "He's very clever, he threatens but doesn't say the magic words in order to give him a restraining order. Patch listens to the tapes before we delete them and she says every week that there is nothing they can pin him with"

Diego did a low hum as he could feel how frustrated she was, it even made Ava stop walking.

"Hopefully he'll get frustrated that you're not responding and do something stupid" Diego turned and noticed Ava's eyes were wide, "What's wrong?"

"His friends a-are here" Ava said, "Those are his co-workers"

Diego glanced and saw just two men in sharp suits, he rounded his shoulders, "Have they sent you any threatening calls?"

"Y-Yes"

"Then let's say hi" Diego turned.

"No!" Ava launched at him and grabbed his arm, "Diego, no! Let's just go, o-okay? Let's leave"

"They need to stop threatening you" Diego turned to her, "Sometimes, the only way to fight fire is with fire"

Ava was caught in the moment of trying to see the logic behind his thinking when Diego turned and walked directly to the men she pointed out. By now, they had already seen her and were even walking in her direction causing her stomach to knot up and cramp. Diego just marched over to them as if he had no fear, nothing to lose, and even seemed to have enjoyed coming up to them. Ava let out a whimpering sigh as she turned and looked around, wondering if Niall was nearby. She wanted to run back over to Diego but her fear kept her in place.

"Hey,I'm Ava's friend" Diego nodded over to her, "And I want you to leave her alone"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, leave her alone or you'll deal with me" Diego threatened.

The two exchanged a laugh and glanced back to Diego, "Do you even know who we are?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Josh Wyatt and this here is David Brandt" he chuckled, "And we can make your life living hell just as much as what we've been doing for her"

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure that by the end of this week, you'll confess to all of the hurtful shit that you've done to not only Ava but others as well" Diego nodded behind him.

"Really?" David seemed impressed.

"Yeah" Diego walked back with a wink, "Sleep tight… I highly doubt you will"


	7. Chapter 7

The worst thing you could possibly do is give off your name when you have been doing wrong, but these boys were cocky and thought they were on top of the world or some shit. After Diego followed Ava back home, upon her request, he told her that he realized that he promised to have dinner with his mom tonight and couldn't do practice today. Ava looked both relieved and disappointed at the same time before she bounded up the stairs and let herself into her home. Diego found the closest payphone he could find and told Patch to look up anything with Mr. Josh Wyatt and David Brandt. She didn't like it at first, but her conscience is greater than her annoyance of him, so she started up on her side of the investigation.

Diego made his way over to the library, a place he hated to do research when his father made them track down a "villain" but he'll remember to thank him later. Right now, he didn't want to think of the old man and what he had put him, his brother, and sister through. He had to concentrate on bringing Niall down, one expensive friend at a time.

He rubbed his stubble as he flicked from one newspaper to the other.

There were many clips of the company, some had Niall on the front page, either on the side or the center, but not a lot of his friends. Made it impossible as he even wondered what he was looking for. How he wished that he had Allison's patience, she could do this research thing all day, maybe that's the reason why she's such a celebrity. Diego humphed at his own private joke; he hated to admit it to himself but he has seen all of his sister's movies… and Vanya's book. The pit of his stomach twisted into a tight knot as he remembered he wanted to burn the book with each chapter he has read.

With the thought of his sister's book, he almost went past an article that finally spoke negatively about this company. Finally, he was beginning to think that everyone loved them for no damn reason. He leaned in as they talked of a _possible _party where drugs were found but, of course, somehow there was no evidence of drugs.

Diego smiled, he'll have to work with that.

Normally, his expertise was to break down the door and kick as much ass as he could under a minute, but this sort of situation had to be dealt with finesse. Patch was right, if he showed himself as a vigilante again tonight to these two idiots' homes, it would tie him into the investigation. Not only that, these men saw him in plain sight threatening to take them down. He just hoped that this doesn't endanger Ava, but it always does. Someone like Niall would get angry after losing his footing in something like this.

Diego sighed as he ran his hand over his face, he would have to keep her close. He didn't want his actions to bite her in the ass. He didn't want to become too involved in her personal life but now he was and he had to make sure she would be okay.

He fished for his wallet and took out his fake private investigator card and rubbed his lips, this one will have to do.

_**One week later…**_

Ava was in the middle of brushing her teeth, cheeking her planner one more time to see if she had the address memorized for her next interview when her brother yelled her name from the bottom of the stairs.

"What?!" she asked with a mouthful of minty toothpaste.

"Get your ass down here!"

She spit out the foam and only rinsed once before heading down the stairs, Adam would never curse in front of his toddler. Like how she used to as a kid, she jumped the last step, knowing it would piss off her sister-in-law which was confirmed when the woman was glaring at her.

"What is it?" Ava asked her brother.

Adam pointed to the TV, "Your luck is about to turn around"

Ava turned and noticed the breaking news as Josh Wyatt and David Brandt were in cuffs as Patch was leading them into the building. Her mouth dropped as she read that they confessed the recent threats of not only hers but of three other ex-employees as well. The former employees had found the courage to send over their files to Patch and give her the connections she needed in order to be one step closer to bringing to justice.

"The best part is that Niall is on all of those tapes as well" Adam said eagerly, "They're bringing him in for questioning"

"Jessie Everett" Ava read the names, "Juliette Waybourne and Danielle Hobson… those were previous girlfriends of each of them, including Niall"

"You sure?" Adam asked.

"Yes" Ava pointed to a picture, "That's Jessie, she warned me to not get involved with Niall but back then I just thought that things ended badly for her and Niall…"

"Looks like she was right" Laura said in a nonchalant tone, "Have they called you yet?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure they will soon," Ava mumbled.

"Don't expect good news" Laura commented before leaving.

"Laura!"

"No, she's right" Ava said, "They're clever, they must have some sort of plan for when they get caught"

"Well, isn't she the charmer" Diego huffed after hearing about Laura's reaction.

"I, at least, thought I would get some sympathy" Ava shrugged, "Guess Laura doesn't care either which way my situation goes"

"Things are going to get better from here on out" Diego commented, "Those former employers are going under witness protection because they stepped forward and told their names. Did they ask you about going under protection?"

Ava bit her lip as she glanced down to her water bottle, Diego sighed, "Ava…"

"I can't be a coward" Ava looked up to him, "Not now, I want to see his face when they put him in handcuffs and walk him out the courtroom. I want him to see that I'm not the weak girl he always told me I was"

"You have done enough," Diego said gently.

"Not to me" Ava shook her head, "Besides, I'd feel more safe if I was around you and not some stranger"

Diego lifted up his eyebrows as Ava took this time to drink from her water bottle, he couldn't help but smile as he had to ask, "Am I getting paid for witness protection as well?"

Ava smirked, "Maybe, you never know. I know of this cheap barely 2.5 star diner down the street once all this is over"

Diego couldn't help but laugh, "Does it go up with the sentencing of your former boyfriend?"

"Like what?"

"Like dinner"

Ava looked up to him as he said, "How about we have dinner when all of this is over? What do you say?"

The _ding! _Of the break time sounded out as Ava quickly put down her water bottle and walked backwards, "I say it's time to get back to training and think about dinner later"


	8. Chapter 8

Now it was top news everywhere; an ex-girlfriend and former employee of a company was wrongfully fired and convicted of false accusations to cover-up her boyfriend and entrepreneur's past. It didn't take long for reporters to find the report of the night that Ava was abused and not long after that, Ava's mother called. She was already in hysterics so much that Ava couldn't make out a word she was saying for a good 10 minutes. Everyone wanted a piece of her story, urging her to come onto local talk shows, the newspaper, or even discreetly in her own home. Ava refused all of them, she felt that photographers were camped outside just to get a picture of her.

With the overnight fame also came the sudden silence of phone calls, not one came from Niall or interns who a few have stepped forward saying part of their internship was to make midnight threats. This looked so bad for the company that even the CEO had to fly across the country to do his own investigation with his own team. His first stop was to Ava's home.

He gave not only a nice sum of money for her troubles but also introduced her to a lawyer of his own, not touched by the company, if she were to stand trial.

Adam believed that the gesture was so that Ava _**would not **_go to trial and save face of his company. But she had no choice, Ava didn't think about going to trial but now that that was finally on the table, she realized that she didn't even have the money to cover a lawyer. She had no choice but to use the lawyer and officially press charges, along with the other former employers which seemed to be popping up every night. Patch was now hard to reach because of this big case that exploded on her desk but after calling Ava back four days later, she assured her that she was going to try to pin as much as she could on Niall. If he even left his block, she would know about it.

The self-defense classes had to come to an end as well since a photographer found out and started shooting pictures of Ava taking back her life in her own hands. This frustrated her because she was starting to like going to classes with Diego, it was the only place she felt safe. He was the only one that didn't seem to ask too much about the case or give her a sympathetic look, he was there from the beginning.

Still, that didn't stop Diego from coming over to her house with food in his hand.

"I thought we weren't going to have dinner until after this thing was settled" Ava commented.

"If this is your idea of a date then you've been on some pretty shitty ones before you met me" Diego stepped inside her home.

Ava shrugged, "You know of one already. Did anyone see you?"

"Just about four photographers for some sort of gossiping magazine" Diego glanced outside, "No doubt they will try to spin this on us"

"Hey!" Adam let out as he came up to the pair, "Whose this?"

"It's okay, Adam, this is my self-defense instructor, Diego" Ava waved out to him, "He's the one that Patch referred me to"

Adam nodded and relaxed as he shook his hand, "Sorry about that, can't be too careful with everything that's going on"

"It's alright" Diego nodded, "I figured something like this would happen if Patch pushed the right buttons, justice will come soon, I'm sure of it"

"Not soon enough" Ava closed her eyes and sighed as everyone watched a very pregnant Laura come out from one of the rooms, "It's been two months of endless threats on our voicemail and the police force didn't do a damn thing until the news caught sight of this story"

"This is my wife, Laura" Adam mumbled, almost as if he was embarrassed to introduce her.

"I'm sure their hands were tied until just recently" Diego said, knowing he had to give Patch the extra push she needed.

"He could've came in here and killed us all" Laura yelled out, "Then it would've been too late"

"Laura, enough" Adam said, "You just entered your third term and even the doctor said to lower your stress as much as you can"

"Oh, I will" Laura yelled out with tears in her eyes, "Once _she's _out the door and _he's _in bars"

Everyone watched as Laura marched off down the hallway to the kitchen presumably, Adam backed up and gave a sheepish grin, "I'm sorry about that, it's been hard with her going through her pregnancy and dealing with all of this. Ava, please, why don't you lead Diego to your room to eat. I have a feeling that Laura will be sending death glares from the island until Diego leaves.

Ava nodded, "Good idea"

Diego silently followed Ava up the stairs, now understanding what she's been going through while living in her brother's home. He knew it was all just hormones but the way Laura reacted was more than usual, Ava one time said that she believed Laura was hiding behind the emotions of pregnancy just so that way she could say whatever she wanted. His eyes wandered around the room that Ava let him in, it looked like a usual guest room with not that much stuff on the desktop, nightstand, or anywhere actually. He spotted a stuffed duffel bag under the bed and wondered if she was planning on leaving if things went bad, or if Laura said the right things in order to make her leave. Diego plopped himself down on the bed as Ava sat down next to him.

"Sorry you had to see that" Ava apologized, "But I did warn you"

"You did" Diego nodded, "But she's only looking out for her family… it even means you"

Ava scoffed, "I highly doubt that, she practically blocked me from entering the house when I first moved in. There hasn't been a nice day with her around"

Diego made the call to say that this was a lost cause of trying to mend some sort of bond between Ava and Laura. He took out the food and placed it on the floor as he and Ava scooted down to join their meal in a more comfortable level. He handed over a bowl to Ava as she smiled and took a bite out of her dinner.

"I thought that you don't like fast food," Ava commented.

"There can be cheat days every once in a while" Diego said, "I think with what's going on, this proves as one of them, plus, I kind of miss us hanging out"

Ava cleared her throat as she tried to find a good tv show to watch, the old butterflies coming to life in her stomach as the back of her neck burned.

"I feel trapped sometimes because of these people" Ava nodded outside, "I didn't want them to follow me over to the boxing gym"

"I would've mind" Diego shrugged, "Maybe even give us good business"

Ava couldn't help but laugh, "Al would definitely love that"

"Any news from Niall?" Diego asked.

Ava felt a tight grip on her throat as she struggled to answer, "No, he's u-under his o-own protective service believe it o-or not"

"And no calls since then?" Diego asked, "I saw that piece of shit said he was innocent in all of this"

"No calls" Ava shook her head, "I feel like he will eventually get his way… he's clever like that"

"He won't" Diego said, "I'll make sure of it"

Ava felt something rough and warm grip onto her hand as she noticed it was Diego's, she struggled to look up into his eyes. He gave the best comforting smile as he could before taking his hand off of hers and eating his takeout. When his hand left, Ava almost missed it and wanted him to take her hand again. Instead, she smiled and took a big bite out of her food, not realizing how starving she was. She tried to swallow down her feelings that seemed to be blooming for Diego but couldn't deny how close he sat with her, his warmth radiating and keeping her side and arm warm without even touching her.


	9. Chapter 9

Under his own "protective custody", Niall was a lot harder to get close to in order for him to drop the case. He tried making Patch cough up his location but she didn't even know where he was. But even without reaching him, it seems that his lawyers were swaying things into Ava's direction. Diego couldn't help but think this was all the founder/CEOs doing, knowing it was humiliating his own company. Not to mention, his stock market has been plummeting ever since this news broke out.

Even though it was dangerous for him, putting his identity close to Ava's case, he chose to be with her every other month whenever there was a court hearing. Of course, Niall's lawyers would ask for an extension but even the judge got fed up with not putting this behind him. After the third hearing, he said to either go to trial in two months or automatic conviction.

Diego smiled to himself, there was no running away now.

"There's not much evidence their team can defend themselves with" the judge told Ava with Diego lingering slightly in the background, "Not only do I have the stories of past lovers but of internships who had to do this on their job, there's no way this person can find an innocent plea, only a slightly better sentence"

"And what sentence would that be?" Diego asked from behind Ava.

The lawyer glanced to Ava who nodded her approval, he sighed as he said, "If everything goes his way, he can have mandatory anger management and community service"

"That's it?" Ava let out, "I was hoping for some jail time at least"

"With the lawyer he has, it's highly unlikely" he responded, "I've seen this guy work and he can change the way of jurors wherever he wants"

Ava sighed and rolled her eyes as Diego stepped in, "What more could we do to prevent that from happening?"

"Honestly" the lawyer shrugged, "Nothing… I feel I have a solid case on sentencing him in the psychiatric ward but I still have no idea what these people will pull"

"Thank you" Diego nodded as he raised his hand out to shake the man's hand, "We'll make sure to call you if we have anymore questions"

"And I to the same to you if anything changes" he answered, "Good day"

Diego watched as the man scurried off to the elevator, no doubt, trying to get to his next case. He turned and looked to Ava who seemed so mad that she was about to burst into tears. He glanced around to everyone crowding themselves in the hallway, knowing this wasn't the best place to show her pent up frustrations.

She turned and was just about to let out her emotions when something made her freeze from over his shoulder. He knew what it was before he turned around and saw Niall, across the hall but staring her down, almost as if he wanted to finish the job he started that night so many months ago. Diego had a hidden knife in his jacket, one that he made to go through metal detectors, and his body inches to throw it and watch it swim through the crowd until it slammed into his eye. Instead, Diego wrapped his arm around Ava and brought her close to him and walked her to the farthest exit. He turned and glanced back to Niall who was watching them as reporters crowded around him and his lawyers.

He had to guide her to the stairwell and practically help her down the landing before cramming themselves in a corner so she could catch her breath. Diego knew that she would be panicking soon and it was confirmed right when she doubled-over and started to shake all over. He let her be vulnerable around him as he became her watch and kept a close eye on the top of the stairs, justin praying that Niall would follow them so he could end this once and for all.

Ava straightened up so fast and she was close to hitting her head on the wall, Diego's hand never left her waist.

"A- Anger management?" Ava finally said, "A- And community service? What the hell i-is that?!"

"I don't know" Diego sighed, "It's fucked up is what it is"

"I- I've been a- abused for months while being with him" Ava seethed, "A-and had threatening voicemails because o-of him a-and this i-is the justice I-I get?"

"I know" Diego said, "We'll fix it, Patch might know what to do"

"Whatever Patch thinks right now, Niall thought about yesterday" Ava let out, "He's that smart!"

"Then let's not give him the upper hand by acting like this in the same building he is in" Diego whispered to her, "We'll get lunch, I'll drive you home, and I'll go find Patch, alright?"

Ava swallowed hard but gave a firm nod, "Okay"

Diego wanted to offer up his home for her to stay at that night, it almost slipped out of his lips 6 times in the past hour. But he kept it together for Ava as they ate dinner and made her laugh a couple of times. It was an accomplishment but he could tell that those laughs never met her eyes. He could understand, Diego was even surprised that she accepted lunch in the first place. It wasn't a surprise for him, this is how she always acts whenever there was a court hearing.

On the ride home, it was almost as quiet as if Diego was driving around by himself. Probably even more so since he usually blasts music to drown out his thoughts, this time, it was so quiet he could hear a part of his car scraping on the road. When he pulled up to Ava's home, all she did was reach out and give his hand a comforting squeeze before getting out and going into her home.

Diego waited until he couldn't see her through the front window before racing off to the Precinct.

"Did you hear what that bastard will get if they play his cards right!?" Diego shouted out the second he saw Eudora.

She looked up from her work, seeming pissed before she said, "Yes, I just called the firm about a half hour ago"

"And we're going to let him get away with that?!" Diego let out.

"There's nothing we can do, Diego, our hands are tied, I gave everything I have to that lawyer" Eudora said, "He is the only one who can turn this thing around"

"That's bullshit!"

"Hey!"

Diego and Eudora both looked up to see the captain standing on the second floor, glaring at the two. Patch slowly got up with a raised hand and guided Diego over to an empty interrogation room. He was lucky the captain didn't order Diego out of the Precinct as she was sure the captain was well aware of their past. But lately, she's noticed that Diego hasn't been flirtatious with her as he used to in the past. In fact, this new found explosive emotion confirmed what she's been suspecting all along.

"You need to be calm about this" Eudora said, "I know you care about Ava but this isn't going to help her, she needs someone on her side that will protect her"

Diego looked at her, "You don't think I can protect her?"

Eudora folded her arms over her chest, "Yes, I believe you can, in more ways than one, but you need to be careful because this guy can connect the dots"

Diego scoffed, "And what if he does? Then that means I can finally kick his ass"

"I don't think you would want your vigilante career to end with his sentencing" Eudora disagreed.

Diego heaved a sigh as he knew this was true right when Eudora's partner, Chuck Beaman barged through the door. He got up just as Eudora turned her attention to the man. Chuck glanced between the two but made his own decision to announce what he had to say.

"There's been an incident" Chuck said, "Ava's house has been broken into and she's missing"


	10. Chapter 10

"Damn it!" Diego threw a knife as it slammed with the others on a city trash bin, "I should've never left her alone! What was I thinking?!"

"No one would've predicted something like this" Patch said over the commotion of talking in her walkie talkie, "Look, I have to go and search for her, especially since she's involved in my case. I'm sorry Diego but I can't babysit you right now but you have to give me your word that you won't go out looking for her"

"Seriously?!" Diego turned and looked at her with crazy eyes.

"YES!" Patch yelled out, "You're too involved in this case! You will blow your cover before ever putting on that mask. I need Niall back unharmed otherwise her case will go sideways-"

"And what will happen to Ava if I don't show up to protect her, huh?!" Diego pointed down the street where police cars were leaving by the handful to look for her, "I promised that I would protect her and this happens! I watched her walk into her house, I didn't go inside with her-"

"That is not your fault" Patch said, "Don't do this now, Diego, you can't do that to yourself"

But Patch was far away from Diego as he was concerned, he knew she should be on the floor looking for Ava but for whatever reason, she was still with him, trying to make sure that he's okay. He ran a hand over his face as he paced, feeling dizzy with anger as he could even hear his father lecturing him about how careless he was. He remembered seeing Ava the first night all bloody and bruised, swollen and different colors on her body. Now Niall is angered and took her to some isolated place that probably no one knows about. He remembered how Ava used to say that he would bring her to one of his extravagant vacation homes but never would mention where any of them were.

Diego sighed, "I need to help"

"You need to go home" Patch said, "I can take care of this. I will do my best to help her, I will, but I need to trust that you will stay home and trust that I can do my job"

"I can't just sit at home, you know that" Diego told her, "There's no way in hell I can do that"

Patch stared at him, "Then I will have to arrest you"

"What!?"

"You'll be obstructing the case and I can't allow that" Patch said, "I'm sorry"

Diego formed his jaw as he said, "Fine… I'll do as you say"

Niall's lawyer left through the backdoor that leads to the garage of his building. Reporters were swarming everywhere ever since Ava turned up missing, wondering if Niall was behind all of this. He took out his key and just barely glanced down to it when something flew by and struck his car. He jumped and squinted his eyes at a knife that was embedded into his car. From the reflection of the window, he could see someone approaching him from behind.

He gasped and turned just as the man slammed him into the car, "What the hell?!"

"Hello, Mr. Talabis," the man in the mask hissed.

"Who are you?" He demanded, "There are over 100 cops upstairs, I can alert them"

"Oh, I'm sure you would but what you _won't _do is alert them to Ava Thomas" Diego said.

Talabis seemed surprised but then asked, "Who? The girl who is missing? I don't have anything to do with that"

"I'm sure you didn't" Diego cocked his head to the side, "Where is your client? Isn't he supposed to be with you to be escorted to his safe house?"

"It- It alters" Talabis said, "I don't know the schedule, sometimes I transport and sometimes I don't"

Diego raised another knife close to the man's face, "A woman could be beaten to death by your client right now and the first person they will look to is the person who is supposed to be bringing him back to the safe house. Don't bullshit me, I know he paid you to not tell anyone that he's leaving. He told you something, I can smell it off of you"

Diego slammed the knife into the car close to the lawyer's ear, "Tell me now!"

"He's taking her to the lakehouse" Talabis trembled, "About an hour and a half north from here. He just wanted to talk… he told me he just wanted to talk"

"If there is even a scraped knee on her, I will put you in the hospital, you hear me?" Diego threatened, "What kind of idiot let's a psychopath go out for a joy ride with the object of his obsession?"

"Please don't hurt me" Talabis sniffed, "I have a family"

Diego leaned in, "So does she"

He roughly pushed the lawyer back and with the small distance he had, Talabis climbed into his car and hopped over to the driver's seat as Diego took out his knife. He watched as the car sped away, he glanced down to his watch as he counted that it's been a full hour since Ava has been reported missing. Diego sighed as he let out a frustrated growl and ran to his car on the other end of the garage.

With luck, Diego didn't find any police eagerly speeding him down to pull him over, it made him grateful but also worried that the Precinct didn't spread their search far enough. He couldn't hear the radio because nearly every station was discussing Ava's disappearance, even the station which claims to play 24/7 music has stopped to discuss. He couldn't stand hearing anyone's theories and he couldn't stand thinking about what possibly is happening while Diego is speeding down the road in hopes of getting to her on time. He was so angry that his body was shaking; he blamed himself, the system, and even Ava's brother for not being home on time. He slammed his fist down on the wheel and cursed out to no one but himself in the car.

"Hold on, Ava, hold on" Diego pleaded.

It was early evening when Diego came to the lakehouse, it was secluded, which is something Diego anticipated and dreaded. He left his car down the street and went down to the reservoir and stuck to the shadows as he made his way over to the house. The sun was setting and there were big panels of windows in the back so Niall could be blinded from the sun before seeing Diego's form running in. His breath hitched in his throat as he noticed blood splattered on the marble floor inside. Diego opened the backdoor and stepped inside, the second he came in, he could hear commotion down the hallway.

"You bitch! You ruined me!"

"Get off!"

Diego took out his knife and ran down the hallway, not caring if he was discreet or not. He turned down the hallway to see Niall towering over her, Diego raised his knife and was about to throw it when Ava kneed Nial, punched him in the side and maneuvered him over so she was choking him from behind. She was bruised and bloodied up but not as bad as she was the first night, Niall actually had a few bruises that were beginning to show as well. He noticed the craved look in Ava's eyes as she gripped tighter and tighter making Niall's eyes roll back. Diego slowly came up as Ava looked up shocked that someone was in the house with them, or that the man who saved her the first night had come out and saved her the second time around.

"You?!" she let out.

"Ava" Diego raised up his hands, "Let him go"

Ava looked into his eyes and down his clothes before she asked, "Diego?"

Diego glanced to Niall who had already passed out before pulling off his mask and revealing his identity to her. Ava was so surprised that her mouth dropped and so did her grip as Niall rolled off to the side. She glanced down to him before she struggled to pry herself off of the man before crawling over to Diego. He knelt down to her level as Ava thrust her arms around his body, crying into his jacket as Diego gently touched her head and smoothed her back. Diego looked over to the man as he knew this was more than enough to put his ass in jail for a long time.


	11. Chapter 11

The flashing lights of blue and red illuminated the dark night as it seemed like the whole squad was there at the lakehouse. Residents of the quiet town pretended they were out for evening walks and decided to stay and try to make out what happened in the perfect looking lakehouse at the end of the lane. Eudora Patch walked around the crowd, taking everything in and scanning the crowd, knowing he would be here. Sure enough, Diego was off to the side, almost blended into the darkness around him. Patch walked over to the mysterious man as he was staring off into the distance.

"Niall is on his way to prison" Eudora informed him, "And Ava is at the hospital"

"I know"

"So why don't you go to her?" Eudora asked.

He didn't answer, just continued to search the crowd so Diego answered for him, "Because you're afraid of what she'll mean to you. You're afraid that if you go, that means she's more than innocent to you. There's nothing wrong with that, Diego-"

"There's everything wrong with that" Diego finally turned and looked at her, "Especially with my line of work. She'll always be in danger, upset whenever I go out and fight, and might get herself killed almost like what happened here!"

Eudora let the words sink in between them before she said, "I heard she held her own in her fight against Niall, even gave him a broken nose"

Diego let out a breath of laughter, "She did"

"Which is why I think that you should go to her" Eudora said, "Let her decide for herself what she wants out of a future with you"

"I should've known you would be able to see right through me" Diego commented.

Eudora shrugged, "Call it my own personal power"

"I should wait until she'll be able to get back to our city" Diego sighed, "Too many uniforms… her family is on their way, right?"

"They should be at the hospital in an hour or so" Eudora said, "Depending on who gets to her first"

"You called her parents?" Diego asked.

"It was all over the news, Diego, I had to call them" Eudora said, "I will let you know where she will go once they discharge her.

It came as no surprise to Diego when he heard that Ava's parents were the first to arrive and forced Ava to come home with them. That was the thing he regretted the most, not being able to say goodbye or give her a chance to say what she needed to say. After pulling off his mask, Ava just rushed to his arms and stayed there until the police sirens could be heard from the distance. He remembered prying her off of him and quickly saying that he had to leave. She was too shocked to even tell him to stay or even ask why.

It's been almost a month since he's seen her and he hasn't gotten the nerve to give her a call, so Diego tried to go about his way as he normally does; fighting at night and cleaning up the gym in the morning. Niall's case went straight to the judge the following week with 25 years in prison without parole and Eudora was going to keep it that way. He's only seen Ava once on the TV when they were trying to get her statement about Niall's sentencing but her father immediately ushered her inside as Ava's mother told them to get off their property. Seeing her after so many weeks made him happy to know she was alright but sad to know he couldn't talk to her.

Until one morning when Al banged on his door, "Get up, sleepy head!"

"What?"

"You have a visitor"

"Yeah, right, Al, at 6:30 in the morning?"

"Hey, Diego"

Diego shot up from his bed just as Al turned on the lights, blinding him, "Jesus!"

"You're welcome" Al said, "I'll leave you two to talk"

His eyes adjusted as Ava slowly made her way into the room, "Ava?"

"Yeah" Ava said, "I came early in hopes of asking Al where you live but I didn't think you lived this close to the gym"

"Yeah" Diego nodded as he looked around, "It's not much but it's-"

"Safe"

Diego looked to her, "I was going to say home"

She gave a slight shrug with a hint of a smile to him as she walked over to a chair and sat down. He noticed that she put a slight red streak in her hair on both sides, something he's sure Niall never would've approved. Her makeup was darker and her style of clothing different. He wouldn't say it was to be more dramatic because of the trauma she experienced but she was more comfortable in her own clothing. Diego suddenly realized that this was the most comfortable he has seen her in the four months that he has known her.

Diego silently cursed Al for not even giving him five minutes to put on a sweater or something as he just sat in bed with a T-shirt and pajama pants his mother gave him one of the few times he came over to give gifts, just for her though, not Pogo or his father. He self consciously wrapped his blanket closer to his body as if to make his outfit disappear but Ava didn't seem to notice. Her eyes wandered around the room, finally taking in the last pieces of Diego that she never knew about. She got up and walked over to a picture frame, the only one he had up, another gift from his mother.

It was a sewn mask with his name on it. He watched as her lips parted slightly as she traced the golden frame, remembering the night she was attacked. Diego got up and crossed his arms over his chest as she turned to look at him, as if remembering why she was there.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Diego paused, "To protect you"

"Did you not trust me to keep your secret?" Ava asked.

"It was more to protect you" Diego replied, "If they knew you were connected to a vigilante, some people would try and take advantage of that… it's happened before"

Ava slowly nodded, "Detective Patch?"

"Yeah, after figuring it out she didn't take it so lightly but thankfully, she's never turned me in" Diego nodded.

There was silence between them before she said, "I never really got to properly thank you for that night"

"You don't have to" Diego waved his hand, "I had to make sure that you were okay"

"I'm better than okay" Ava lifted up her hands, "I'm free"

Diego smiled, "I can tell… so what now?"

Diego hid behind a corner as he heard the alarms of the jewelry store blaring up the whole block. A group ran out of the alleyway exit, turning right to go to their getaway car but noticed it was blocked. With the adrenaline kicking in, the group didn't think a second thought before turning to go the other way. Diego pictured where he wanted his knife to go before throwing it and hearing one of the men scream out in pain. He took another knife out and turned the corner just as he threw another one at the second man.

He chose to fight the remaining two as the other cowered on the ground. He jumped up on the side of the wall before landing a kick on the man's chin before finally the last man took out a gun but held it too shakily. A shot fired as Diego moved the man's arm to deflect the bullet before slamming his elbow into the man's nose, cracking on impact. He let out a howl as he fell to his knees, Diego ending the fight with a roundhouse kick.

Diego glanced at the four men and gave a sigh of disappointment, he was hoping that someone would give him more of a fight tonight. His ears picked up on the sounds of police sirens coming closer and closer, telling him to get lost. He picked up his knives and jogged over to his car down the street to call it a night.

He pulled up to the boxing gym and used the back entrance to go to his room quicker. Diego opened the door and noticed that the lights were still on and the smell of food drifted to his nose.

"I told you not to wait up for me"

"Do I ever listen?" Ava smiled as she picked up two plates, "How was it?"

"Good, not too much of a challenge but I'm sure I'll find someone who will give me a hard time" Diego walked down the stairs and placed the knives in his locker.

Ava smiled, "Are you always this cocky"

"Only to you" Diego joked.

He took the plate and leaned in and gave her a slow kiss, "Thanks for the plate"

"It's the least I can do for you coming back to me" Ava ran a hand over his cheek.

"Of course, I will" Diego picked up the bacon, "I lived here first"

Ava rolled her eyes as she said, "Whatever, just shut up and enjoy your early early breakfast"

"Yes, ma'am" Diego winked as they both sat down at the small table.


End file.
